


Those three words

by samchandler1986



Category: GLOW (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-22
Updated: 2020-02-22
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:02:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22852948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/samchandler1986/pseuds/samchandler1986
Summary: OTP prompt fills for Sam and Ruth
Relationships: Sam Sylvia/Ruth Wilder
Comments: 4
Kudos: 22





	1. First Date

**Author's Note:**

> See https://samsylviasmoustache.tumblr.com/post/190930225219/ship-headcanon-meme for the masterlist of prompts :)

_Prompt 19 | First Date_

_*_

“Where are we going?”

He gives her a withering look as she plugs in her seat belt primly, his hands on the steering wheel. “Which part of ‘it’s a surprise’ is giving you trouble?” he replies, as they pull away from her apartment.

“Alright, fine…”

“What?”

“I just… I think it’s going to get pretty obvious where we’re going once we get closer, anyway.”

“Really?”

She laughs. “Sam, c’mon!”

“C’mon _what_?”

She opens and closes her mouth a few times. “I’m excited to go on a date with you,” she tries. “You know, even if it’s just… a picnic in the park.” His scowl deepens, and she tries another pitch. “Or, or, a movie somewhere. Or—”

“Jesus.” He shakes his head. “It’s not the park. Or a movie.”

She bites her lip, looking out of the window as she considers further options. “Is it… sitting in the traffic together?”

“In this town? Unavoidably.”

She smiles, almost in spite of herself, and gives up on what is clearly a pointless conversation right now. Turning her attention instead to any clues she can on the road. Annoyingly she _doesn’t_ really recognise the route; down no-where streets just north of Studio City. Boxy warehouses, industrial units. He pulls up on the weathered lot in front of a faceless rectangle. “Um,” she manages.

He rolls his eyes as he crunches the parking brake. “Just trust me. Alright?”

“Alright, okay…”

She follows him out of his car and to her surprise he takes her hand. This is a date, she reminds herself, swallowing sudden nervousness. Holding hands is something they can do now.

Sam leads her inside, past a man in a janitor’s overalls, with his feet up on the reception desk and his nose buried in a book. “Hey, Ernie.”

“Morning, Sam,” he replies, without looking up. 

And she’s just about to open her mouth and _demand_ an answer, when they pass through a second door and all becomes clear. There are ballgowns on mannequins, wigs and sequins. Monster masks and suits of armour; a chimpanzee costume next to something that looks suspiciously like one of the monoliths from _2001: A Space Odyssey_.

And a woman, gliding towards them. She’s vaguely other-worldly too, with her arched eyebrows and surprised expression, although cosmetic surgery is probably a more likely explanation for that, rather than alien intervention. “Hello, Ruth,” she says. “My name is Wanda. I’m one of the curators here at the Museum of Hollywood archives. Sam mentioned that you’re a big fan of Katherine Hepburn?”

“I… um. Yes. Yes, I—”

“If you come this way, we have some of her letters from Bryn Mawr which I think may be of interest to you…”

“How?” Ruth manages, out of the corner of her mouth, as they follow the ethereal Wanda deeper into the archives.

“I know a guy,” he whispers back. “And besides, you’re the only nerd I know who’d be into this kind of thing—” He stops as she presses a kiss to his cheek. A chaste thing, given their situation, but to her surprise he blushes deep crimson. “Alright, okay…”

They walk on, hand in hand.


	2. Fall a little deeper

_Prompt 29 | Why do they fall a little bit more in love?_

*

She scrubs her teeth with a finger, watching her pale reflection in the speckled mirror of the motel bathroom. In her panties and undershirt, not having thought to bring an overnight bag along for what should have been a day trip.

It had all seemed so very _do-able_ in the grey dawn when they set out together. The route carefully highlighted on her map; her notepad prepped and ready. She’d expected cantankerousness from him – what else, given such an early start? – but he was uncharacteristically chipper when she picked him up. If she didn’t know him better, she’d almost think he was looking _forward_ to spending the day together, finding the perfect wasteland for their post-apocalyptic location shoot…

Until, with the kind of timing she really should be used to by now, her car’s engine started to splutter in middle of scrubby desert nowhere.

Somehow, they’ve limped the few miles to this nowhere town. Where almost everywhere is shuttered for Sunday, and the only dinner they’ve been able find is potato-chips and Skittles from a vending machine…

He’s in the bed when she pads back through from the bathroom, eyes screwed shut. The pinch of his frown suggests its frustration rather than sleep. She slips in next to him. They’ve slept together half a dozen or so times now, it’s almost starting to feel almost familiar. About time, really, for everything to blow up in her face.

They lie in silence for a time, side by side. She turns away from him, and he’s still as a stone. “Are you mad?” she winces eventually.

He sighs. “I mean, at the situation.” The bed frame creaks as he rolls over too. “Not at you.”

“Really?”

“Really. C’mere.” He puts his arm around her, spooning her close against him. “Jesus. Your feet are freezing. How the fuck are you so cold?”

“I’m sorry— ”

“For _what_ , poor circulation?” He takes her cold hands, rubbing them between his own, as his feet bump against hers. Holds her like that for a while, his heartbeat against her back. “Any better?”

She struggles to unstick her throat. “Uh, yeah. Yes, I—”

He presses a kiss into the nape of her neck. “Ruth, are you okay?”

 _No_ , she wants to say. She doesn’t expect this kindness from him; from anybody. And she knows it’s fucked up; she’s fucked up; it’s all fucked up—

“Mm-hm,” she squeaks instead, nodding. “I’m okay.” 

His breath is warm against her cheek, the soft sigh of him not quite believing her. “Well, good,” he says. “’Cos, you know, we’re here together in a seedy motel, so…”

She presses her lips together, keeping her sudden smile under control. “So…?”

He presses his body hard against hers. “What do you think?” he whispers in her ear, before she turns in his arms to kiss him blind.


End file.
